The present invention relates to a tool for driving an elongated rod into the ground, and more particularly, to a driving pole having a hollow interior to receive a ground rod or the like and a plurality of stop pins along the length to engage the top of the pole for driving.
Line crews for utility companies must install ground rods at the base of each utility pole and other installations where lightening might strike. The ground rod is typically approximately eight feet in length and is driven into the ground so that the top is a few inches below the surface. Typically, these ground rods are installed by hand by a crew member using a sledge hammer. However, this is a tedious and time-consuming job. Furthermore, hitting the small ground rod with a sledge hammer is very dangerous and many a workman has been injured when the head of the sledge hammer misses the top of the rod and hits the arm or hand holding the ground rod. Nonetheless, to date, this is the most common way ground rods are installed by line crews.
There has been some effort to develop a tool for assisting in the ground rod driving process. The Caruthers et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,086 provides a ground rod driver having a tapered, segmented chuck for engaging the ground rod held inside the driver. The rod is driven in increments with the chuck being periodically released and the driver raised in order to allow the full length of the rod to be driven. This driver has not proven successful, insofar as I am aware, and it appears that the reason is the use of the relatively complicated chuck for engaging the ground rod. At best, the chuck is difficult to engage and release the rod requiring substantial time and effort on the part of the crew member. Furthermore, the engagement is by friction thereby allowing the driver to slip, particularly when hard ground or rock is encountered during the driving operation. It would be desirable to have a simplified and more effective ground rod driver. With this in mind, the present invention was developed.